1 CRITICAL THEORY/ART HISTORY 2 WORLD PICTURES: TOWARD A MINOR HISTORY OF BIENNIALISM ______________________________________________ CCA CURATORIAL PRACTICE CURPR 602-01 Spring 2013 Thursdays 8:30-11:30 AM, Hooper OneGC3 Instructor: Andrew Weiner Contact: aweiner3@cca.edu Office Hours: Tuesday afternoons by appointment 80 Carolina, Room 249 Course Description The primary exhibition venue for much new art is an international circuit of fairs and biennials, most of which are less than two decades old. Much of this art problematizes its own cosmopolitanism and novelty, depicting mobile populations or exotic locations while conforming to the most current technological or aesthetic standards. Critical discussion of such work often assumes that biennials give us the most direct access to global contemporary art, and that the concepts of the global and the contemporary are both self-evident and interrelated, or even interchangeable. But what if this isnt the case? How might the singular form of these concepts function ideologically, blocking our understanding of conflicting geographies or uneven histories? How have international exhibitions sought to contest these relations or to alter their own function? How might such examples change our thinking about the geopolitics of art, the task of the curator, or the relations between exhibitions and their audiences? This seminar will explore such questions by developing an alternative, minor history of the contemporary biennial, focusing on developments that took place outside or in opposition to the hegemony of the global North. We will begin by studying theories of postcoloniality, globalization, and the contemporary, and by surveying recent debates about the biennial format. We will then consider historic precedents for the ongoing biennial explosion, moving from the congresses and conventions of the decolonizing Third World through the development of periodic exhibitions in sites including Cuba, Delhi, Lagos, and Sydney. The bulk of the course will consist of case studies of important exhibitions since 1989, including the following: DakArt, the Johannesburg Biennial, Manifesta, the Istanbul Biennial, inSite, the Emergency Biennale of Chechnya, the Guangzhou Triennial, and the Tbilisi Triennial. We will meet with several curators, critics, and art historians with expertise in this field. 2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES: In addition to the objectives stated above, the course also aims to develop the various analytical capacities relevant to the study of modern and contemporary art exhibitions. Methods: Critical Analysis, Interdisciplinary; Skills: Discipline-specific techniques; Understanding: Visual Literacy, Ethics; Communication: Oral, Written; Program-Specific Concepts: Historical Understanding. Requirements The primary course requirement is a critical essay, which is to be based on original research and to be between 2500 and 3000 words in length. Students will begin the research process early in the semester, so as to be able to turn in proposals by the March 20 deadline. We will discuss research methods and writing techniques on several occasions. Students will be expected to make regular informal presentations on the course readings. These will typically consist of a summary of a texts argument and analyses, followed by a critical response. Since we will often be working to reconstruct exhibitions from limited sources, students will be asked to choose, research, and introduce specific works from a given show, using exhibition catalogs and other primary documentation when available. They will also be asked to research and summarize exhibition reviews when relevant. The semester will conclude with an informal symposium, in which all course participants will introduce their research in 10-15 minute presentations. Course evaluation will be based on the research paper, class preparation, and on participation in seminar activities. Please note that students will be expected to attend several exhibitions and talks as part of the course requirements, as well as to attend a conference at UC-Berkeley. The dates for these are given below in the course schedule; please reserve these on your calendars in advance to avoid conflicts. Texts Readings for the seminar include a mixture of primary and secondary sources, ranging from artists statements and exhibition catalogs to historical surveys and contemporary criticism and theory. For some sessions background readings will also be assigned. These are either primary texts or brief articles providing relevant information on significant exhibitions, artists, movements, and contexts. Though not required, it is recommended that you purchase The Biennial Reader, Elena Filipovic et al., eds. All other course readings and materials will be available for download via the course Moodle site. Please come to class with that days readings on hand, whether in print or on a screen. 3 COURSE SCHEDULE January 23Introduction/Overview January 30Third Worlds and Art Worlds ReadingYoung, Colonialism and the Politics of Postcolonial Critique Young, Postcolonialism Lee, Forgetting the Art World Deleuze and Guattari, What Is a Minor Literature? February 6Venice or Havana or...? ReadingFilipovic, Biennialogy Jones, Biennial Culture: A Longer History Niemojewski, Venice or Havana? BackgroundBennett, The Exhibitionary Complex Wallis, Selling Nations February 11The Decolonial Moment(Joint Meeting with Africa is a Country Seminar) ReadingsWright, The Color Curtain(selections) Baldwin, Princes and Powers Willsdon and Elhaik, Tricontinental Drifts Screen Hassan, Between Negritude and Negrophilia(URL on Moodle) BackgroundYoung, The National Liberation Movements Case StudiesFirst International Congress of African Culture, Rhodesia, 1961 World Festival of Black Arts, Senegal, 1966 (Note date change:new time/location TBA) 4 February 20Early Alternatives ReadingsGardner and Green, Biennials of the South on the Edges of the Global McEvilley, Arrivederci, Venice: The Third World Biennials Flores, First Person Plural: Manifestos of the 1970s in Southeast Asia Case StudiesTriennaleIndia, Delhi, 1968 Biennale of Sydney, 1973 FESTAC 77, Lagos, 1977 GuestAnthony Gardner, The Ruskin School, Oxford University February 20-21Attend Conference: Art and Life After Art into Life UC-Berkeley Arts Research Center February 27Tres Mundos: The Bienal de La Habana ReadingsWeiss, A Certain Place and a Certain Time Mosquera, The Third Bienal de La Habana in its Global and Local Contexts Case StudiesSecond and Third Havana Biennials, 1986 and 1989 March 4Attend Graduate Studies Lecture by Olu Oguibe et al., Timken Hall, 7pm March 6Former East, Former West? ReadingsHlavajova, Towards the Normal: Negotiating the Former East Boutoux, A Tale of Two Cities: Manifesta in Rotterdam and Ljubljana van Winkel, The Rhetorics of Manifesta Case StudyManifesta 3, Ljubljana, 2000 5 March 13Pan-Africanism and After ReadingsKonat, The Invention of the Dakar Biennial Fillitz, Worldmaking: The Cosmopolitanization of DakArt Araeen, DakArt 1992-2002(plus responses and reviews) Marschall, The Impact of the Two Johannesburg Biennials... Case StudiesDakArt, Dakar, 1992-2000 Johannesburg Biennial, 1995-97 GuestJennifer Bajorek, NYU-Tisch, Resolution Photo March 20Over, Across, Between: Border Biennials ReadingsSheren, From the Trojan Horse to the Human Cannonball Interview with Vasif Kortun and Charles Esche BackgroundMontezemolo, Tijuana: Hybridity and Beyond Case StudiesInSite, San Diego/Tijuana, 1994-97 Istanbul Biennial, 1997-2005 * PAPER PROPOSAL DUE * [Spring Recess, No Class March 27] April 3 The Center, Marginalized? ReadingsEnwezor, Black Box Bauer, The Space of Documenta 11: Documenta 11 as a Zone of Activity Creolit and Creolization, Documenta 11 Platform 3 (selections) Case StudiesDocumenta 11, Platforms 3 and 5, St. Lucia and Germany, 2002 6 April 10Resistance and Expansion Across Asia ReadingsClark, Biennials as Structures for the Writing of Art History Hoskote, Biennials of Resistance: Reflections on the Seventh Gwangju Biennial Maharaj, Farewell to Post-Colonialism DSouza, The Indian Biennale Effect Case Studies7th Gwangju Biennial, South Korea, 2008 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, China, 2008 Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India, 2012 April 17Contested Territories ReadingMerewether, Zones of Contact Podesva, Time and Space in a Biennial for Chechnya Fisher, Voices in the Singular Plural Case StudiesEmergency Biennale in Chechnya, 2005 Palestine c/o Venice, Riwaq Biennial Biennale of Sydney, 2006 April 24New Directions ReadingsWHW/Kholeif, Curating the Revolution Bauer et al., Shifting Gravity Case StudiesTbilisi Triennial Meeting Points After Year Zero GuestTara McDowell, Monash University May 1SYMPOSIUM May 8FINAL PAPERS DUE 7 BIBLIOGRAPHY Araeen, Rasheed. DakArt 1992-2002. Third Text, 17:1, 93-106. Baldwin, James. Princes and Powers. Encounter, January 1957, 52-60. Bauer, Ute Meta. The Space of Documenta 11: Documenta 11 as a Zone of Activity. InDocumenta 11_Platform 5: Exhibition. Ostfilern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2002. Bauer, Ute Meta, Hou Hanru et al. Shifting Gravity. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2013. Belting, Hans with Jacob Birken, Andrea Buddensieg, and Peter Weibel. Global Studies: Mapping Contemporary Art and Culture. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz and ZKM, 2011. Belting, Hans, with Andrea Buddensieg and Peter Weibel. The Global Contemporary and the Rise of New Art Worlds. Karlsruhe: ZKM, 2013. Bennett, Tony. The Exhibitionary Complex. In Greenberg et al., Thinking About Exhibitions. Boutoux, Thomas. A Tale of Two Cities: Manifesta in Rotterdam and Ljubljana. In Vanderlinden andFilipovic, The Manifesta Decade. Clark, John. Biennials as Structures for the Writing of Art History: The Asian Perspective. In Filipovic, et al., The Biennial Reader. DSouza, Robert E. The Indian Biennale Effect: The Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2012. Cultural Politics, 9:3, 296-312. Deleuze, Gilles and Flix Guattari. Trans. Robert Brinkley. What Is a Minor Literature? Mississippi Review, 11:3 (Winter/Spring 1983), 13-33. DiQuinzio, Apsara. Six Lines of Flight: Shifting Geographies in Contemporary Art. San Francisco: SFMOMA, 2012. Enwezor, Okwui. The Black Box. In Documenta 11_Platform 5: Exhibition. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2002. Enwezor, Okwui, et al., eds. Creolit and Creolization. Documenta 11_Platform 3. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2002. Filipovic, Elena, with Marieke van Hal and Solveig vsteb. The Biennial Reader. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz and Bergen Kunsthall, 2012. Fillitz, Thomas. Worldmaking: The Cosmopolitanization of DakArt, the Art Biennial of Dakar. In Belting, et al., Global Studies. Fisher, Jean. Voices in the Singular Plural: Palestine c/o Venice and the Intellectual Under Siege. Third Text, 23:6, 789-801. Flores, Patrick D. First Person Plural: Manifestos of the 1970s in Southeast Asia. In Belting, et al.,Global Studies. Gardner, Anthony and Charles Green. Biennials of the South on the Edges of the Global. Third Text, 27:4, 442-55. Greenberg, Reesa, Bruce W. Ferguson, and Sandy Nairne, eds. Thinking About Exhibitions. London: Routledge, 1996. Hlavajova, Maria. Towards the Normal: Negotiating the Former East. In Vanderlinden and Filipovic,The Manifesta Decade. Hoskote, Ranjit. Biennials of Resistance: Reflections on the Seventh Gwangju Biennial. In Filipovic, et al., The Biennial Reader. Jones, Caroline A. Biennial Culture: A Longer History. In Filipovic, et al., The Biennial Reader. Konat, Yacouba. The Invention of the Dakar Biennial. In Filipovic, et al., The Biennial Reader. Kortun, Vasif and Charles Esche. Interview with Vasif Kortun and Charles Esche.Metropolis M, 2005. Lee, Pamela. Forgetting the Art World. In Forgetting the Art World. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2013. Maharaj, Sarat. Farewell to Post-Colonialism: Querying the Guangzhou Triennial. Printed Project, Issue 11, 2009. Marschall, Sabine. The Impact of the Two Johannesburg Biennials on the Formation of a New South African Art. In Filipovic, et al., The Biennial Reader. 8 McEvilley, Thomas. Arrivederci, Venice: The Third World Biennials. In Filipovic, et al., The Biennial Reader. Merewether, Charles. Zones of Contact: 2006 Biennale of Sydney. Sydney: Biennale of Sydney, 2006. Montezemolo, Fiamma. Tijuana: Hybridity and Beyond. A Conversation with Nstor Garca Canclini. Third Text, 23:6, 733-50. Mosquera, Gerardo. The Third Bienal de La Habana in its Global and Local Contexts. In Weiss, ed.,Making Art Global (Part 1): The Third Havana Biennial. Niemojewski, Rafal. Venice or Havana: A Polemic on the Genesis of the Contemporary Biennial. In Filipovic, et al., The Biennial Reader. Podesva, Kristina Lee. Time and Space in a Biennial for Chechnya. Fillip, Issue 4, 2006. Sheren, Ila. From the Trojan Horse to the Human Cannonball: InSite at the U.S.-Mexico Border. Sherman, Daniel J. and Irit Rogoff, eds. Museum Culture: Histories, Discourses, Spectacles.Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1995. Vanderlinen, Barbara and Elena Filipovic, eds. The Manifesta Decade: Debates on Contemporary Art Exhibitions and Biennials in Post-Wall Europe. Cambridge, MA: Roomade and MIT, 2005. Wallis, Brian. Selling Nations: International Exhibitions and Cultural Diplomacy. In Sherman andRogoff, Museum Culture. Weiss, Rachel. A Certain Time and a Certain Place. In Weiss, ed., Making Art Global (Part 1): TheThird Havana Biennial. Weiss, Rachel, ed. Making Art Global (Part 1): The Third Havana Biennial. London: Afterall, 2011. WHW with Omar Kholeif. Curating the Revolution: Meeting Points 7. IBRAAZ Platform 6, 2013. Willsdon, Dominic and Tarek Elhaik. Tricontinental Drifts. In DiQuinzio, Six Lines of Flight. van Winkel, Camiel. The Rhetorics of Manifesta. In Vanderlinden andFilipovic, The ManifestaDecade. Wright, Richard. The Color Curtain. New York: World Publishing Company, 1956. Young, Robert. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2001.